The Color Palette Journal: Autumn Feast

 It's been awhile. 

I have no excuses or apologies. No one should.

But I do have a layout to share from the Color Palette Journal. I randomly selected a palette from my Pinterest board and will select another when this is posted. I work in a small Dylusions journal and my main mediums are ink and paper. This journal focuses mostly on rubber stamping and collage.

Here's the Autumn Feast color palette:

I didn't want to go the Autumn route but that's where I ended up because I just love Autumn!

Here's what I made:

I decided to make the leaves in the two shades of brown and use the colors in the background. I used a stencil set I hadn't used...ever. It's simple, faintly familiar, and just what I wanted: something to get the mojo flowing. As with many of the art journal pages I've shared on this blog, their main purpose is to spur my creativity and just settle my anxious mind. 

On to the next...

-Wy

oh, and yes...I have been contemplating this year's Halloween projects. I await a little inspiration from Tim Holtz in August but I have begun to think on some things that I'd like to get done that I have left over from previous years. Stay tuned. Halloween is coming.

The Art Journal: Uk'otoa

 So I watch a show on Twitch/YouTube called "Critical Role". It's a bunch of voice actors playing D&D. It doesn't sound like much of a show but it is, even if you don't know anything about D&D. It's a good story telling time.

Anyway, they recently released a new game and the promo that goes with it just stuck in my head as an earworm. (as good promotions will) So I decided to make an art journal spread about it. I'm pretty happy with it even though the song is still stuck in my head. (if you want the song stuck in yours, too, you can find it HERE.)

I did another video scan over of the spread since it's so large. It's uploaded to YouTube so I can embed it here. But I've got some still photos below that. This spread is done with mostly spray inks but there is some acrylic paint in there. This is in a large Dylusions journal, the flip style that is landscape, mostly. I mainly was ripping pages out of this to use as single sheets but now I'm just trying to do up the journal as I don't really like this long landscape format. (I should have just ripped it ALL apart but I already had done some pages so....) 

Have a great weekend!

-Wy

The Color Palette Journal: Fabric or Feathers?

 The random palette selected this time had a photo that was difficult to say what it was exactly. At first, I thought it was fabric but on closer inspection, it might be feathers. In any case, I took neither of these to heart.

This palette is difficult for me as many of these colors are ones that I rarely, if ever, use. Reddish purples aren't my faves and the dusty colors aren't in my wheelhouse. I managed to scrounge together some ink pads and markers that came close to this palette and I just did a simple watercolor background. 

The completed pages aren't any masterpiece, but I like the final outcome. Hey, it's just a journal page and now that it's done, I can get on to a different set of colors. Hopefully, ones that are more inspirational. 

-Wy

A Few Art Journal Pages

 Just sharing a little playtime fun. I just was having a hard time with another project and needed an escape from what wasn't working.

Enjoy the photos!

As you can see, I was trying to use up scraps that have been sitting around on my table for far too long. I'm also working on a post that shows what I've done with a lot of my card-making paper scraps. Coming soon.

Happy Spring!

-Wy

Quick Journal Flip

 The constant motion of life has swept me away from the blog. But now that February is upon us, I will attempt to add more content. I often lose my path during December and January so thank you for your patience.

Here's what I have accomplished amidst all the crap I haven't finished. I did a Dyalog journal for the Holidays. From Thanksgiving through New Year's. Here's a little flip through of it.

It is what it is. My main goal was to finish it and use up some Christmas themed stickers and ephemera I had in my stash for a long time. Mission accomplished. I'm only just learning the video side of things and this was filmed on my phone. It's a learning process there, too.

If you're wondering about my YouTube channel, it's not anything I'm pursuing right now. I'm basically using it to upload longer video clips to this blog and elsewhere. When I feel more comfortable with the video process, I may be uploading more content there. I'm hoping to film at least one thing a month and upload it, just to get comfortable with the process. Then, I may start a YouTube channel under my brand name. (Hey, ya gotta have goals, right?)

I often lose my motivation during February so I hope you'll stick with me this year. Crossing my fingers it will be better than the last.

Cheers,

Wyvern

Halloween Art Journal: Part 1

 In all fairness, I can't remember if I've shared some of these before or not, so this part contains pages that are older and not fresh in my mind. So that means...picture post!

This is a black square Dylusions journal that measures 8 X 8, I think. I've been working in this on and off for about 3 years now and I've pretty much dedicated it to be my Halloween themed journal. (Though some of the first pages I made are not, I was more or less experimenting with the substrate to see what would stick, literally.) I use paints and collage a lot in this journal. I can't say I'm a fan of this size or shape but I am determined to finish this journal in the Halloween theme. Not this year...oh no...I don't foresee any completed goals for this year.

Here's the first set of pages. 

Trick or Treat Abstract: I had scraps of paper in Halloween colors. I had leftover paint to splatter. That is all.

High School Lab:  This 2 page spread was meant just to preserve some of my favorite paper. The Laboratory collection from Tim Holtz a few years back was so hard to find and one of my very favorite Halloween paper collections he put out.

Nightshade Garden:  I had a collage sheet with imagery from Joggles.com. The background has a lot of interference paint (a paint that shifts color or shows better under certain lighting conditions). I really like the spiders in this spread. They remind me of the spider from The Corpse Bride.

 Green Halloween:  Another "using up the stash" page. 

Update on my Halloween projects: 

1. I am in the midst of doing my annual Edgar Allan Poe collage so I hope to share that by Halloween.

2. My inktober drawings may still happen but it's not looking good so I've put it on the back burner.

3. I completed another assemblage piece that I can't wait to share. (Yup, it lights up!)

4. I'm having a lot of fun using up some scraps in my art journal so I may have a Part 3 to this post as well!

Have a great week!

Wear your mask, social distance, wash your hands! Go VOTE and get a flu shot. (That's more of a reminder for me. *clears throat*)

-Wy

Back into the Art Journal

 I usually get a bit behind on blogging in the summer. Every year I think it'll be different but it never is. 

So here I am back at it, finally. I finished some pages in my large Art Journal; the one I thought I would have finished by now. Well, as of today, I only have 2 pages left. Wonder how long those 2 pages will take me.

Here's a look at them without too much explanation. Just enjoy the view.

Trying to get back into it, I just went with a color combo that was unexpected. It matches the image better than the photo displays. Just throwing some stuff around to get into the groove.

Went back to the magazine cut-outs that I have hoarded over the years. Tried to fill a page rather than get too creative with it. 

You can see the little touches of pink in the background that connected these cut-out birds to the page. I went "Dylusional" on this page. 

I had these stringy green wavy things in my scraps hoard. I may have been holding them for flower stems but they looked so good on this background. I was thinking another underwater/mermaid scene when I found the Great White. And as providence would have it, Discovery Channel's Shark Week began this week!

The background was nothing special so I covered it all up, mostly. I just loved the image, the little story, and I used up old alphabet stickers for the frame around the edge. 

These pages are not super creative but they do preserve some of the stuff in my stash. Stuff that I don't like to use because it's too pretty or I like it just the way it is. It isn't gonna get seen in my file folders! It will get seen on an art journal page no matter how much "art" I add to it.

So today I have learned that my art journal needs to hold the things I like and want to keep and look at again. It doesn't have to come from a blank page every time.

Stay well. Create much.

-Wy

The New Normal: Phase 3 Day 7

This week so far has been pretty good. New York is looking good and the summer weather is here. Still a little strange not to be able to really do anything besides go to work and get groceries. Yes, stores are opening but I'm not really at the point where I want to go to a store for Non-essentials yet. I'm not much of a shopper anyway so "shopping" is more of a chore for me or an errand. 

I do, however, miss the movie theater and the casino. I miss dining in a restaurant. While restaurants are opening in reduced capacity with masks essential for service, I'm not brave enough yet. I'll continue the take-out ordering for now. I'm not so leery of my area as case numbers are practically non-existent but I am concerned with travelers from other areas of the country. Are all the snowbirds home from Florida? If they come now, will they quarantine or at least get tested?

But I think I'll get over that soon enough. I may have more to worry about from Canadian traffic when the border reopens than from snowbirds.

Anyway, this week is feeling more like the old normal for me. The mask situation is a bit better so I may be getting used to it. Though sometimes when I'm just sitting here at home, I can still feel it on my face. Creepy.

So I made another Color Palette Journal Page. You can see more Color Palettes on my Pinterest Board. I just added a few new ones this week. sigh. I'll never get these all done. But I'm sure gonna have some fun trying.

So here's the palette I called "Autumn Leaves"

The only minor change I made was in the darker burgundy color. I ended up using a product that I thought looked like burgundy but once it was out of the bottle, it was much more a dark red. It lacked the purple vibe that burgundy is known for. But I stuck with it.

This spread all began with the paper. I was going to try to paint or ink the background in dark brown but decided to look through the paper stash first. Glad I did because this pattern inspired the steampunk butterfly and the feel of the pages.

I accomplished what I wanted with the pages and that was to do something that wasn't Autumn themed. So there's that.

Have a great weekend!

Wear your Mask, We ain't out of this yet.

-Wy

The New Normal: Phase 3: Day 2

In my neck of the woods, Phase 3 has begun of the reopening of New York. I'm still a bit nervous about it despite only a few cases in the county over the last couple of weeks. It's not NY that worries me now but other states whose cases of Covid-19 continue to rise. And will the protests affect the spread? Have we allowed sufficient time between phases to know if we have a problem? What happens when people begin to travel more between states? Both Pennsylvania and Vermont are showing upticks. What happened to a "regional" reopening plan between states in the NE? Is that no longer a "thing"? I haven't heard the Governor talk about it recently. 

 I no longer feel inclined to listen to the Governor's "address" every day now as most of it no longer centers on Covid-19. While he insists we're not finished on this front yet, he doesn't appear to have much new information either. In true political form, he seems hesitant to give up his "daily briefing" in spite of the fact that he wasn't going to "make this political". If he wants NY to continue to take this seriously, he better continue to inform people that we haven't reached the finish line yet. The more his briefings stray from Covid, the more people think we're in the clear. 

Despite all these questions, I generally trust what the state has in place for mandates and reopening plans. Though, I'm beginning to detest the mask. I'm not sure if it's psychological or what but I don't tend to breathe properly when wearing it. I also seem to get more light-headed when I wear it for long periods. Recycled air with it's higher CO2, perhaps. 

In any event, I finished another Color Palette and this one I really like.

Here's the randomly selected Palette:

I named it "Lime" but I ended up taking a different road. The Palette is obviously an ombre of green with a little pale bluish-green at the end. That last color is in fact the exact color of the new color of Distress Ink; Speckled Egg and I had recently received it in the mail. That would be the background and the greens would be leaves. Here's what I came up with:

Green Sleeper:  I wanted leaves and I hadn't used my Fearless Face Stencil in a long time. Those two things were all I knew. "I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems. Got to open my eyes to everything. Bring. Me. To. Life." (Evanessence)

Stay Safe.

Wear your mask.

Black Lives Matter

Be the Change.

-Wy